Endangered Species
Many of the UK’s zoos don’t just have animals for the enjoyment of the general public. Organisations such as the Aspinall Foundation are dedicated to trying to protect endangered animals and ensuring they continue to survive.
In January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 2,754 animals that are endangered. These include not only the types of animals that many are familiar with as protected species, such as the tiger and snow leopard, but also creatures such as crustaceans and insects.
Registered charities across the world are doing their best to keep numbers of endangered animals stable, so that we can continue to learn about and protect them. Many zoos try to release creatures back into the wild where possible to enable them to live naturally in their native environment. They accept charitable donations from visitors and patrons in order to continue their work.
One way in which many animal charities gain support is through adopt an animal schemes. These enable people to sponsor animals either for themselves or as gifts for friends or family members. Packages include things like regular updates on the animal you’re sponsoring, photographs, desktop backgrounds featuring your chosen critter and a certificate of adoption. Adoption packs help to protect, feed and maintain the health of the animals of your choice through small monthly donations.
Zoos offer packages for tigers, giraffes, gorillas and elephants among others, and more specialist charities such as horse sanctuaries or marine life organisations also offer adoptions if you have a particular interest in a certain type of animal. As Christmas is coming around, it might be worth thinking about adoptions as gifts – not only will it bring a smile to the face of the recipient, you’ll also be helping to protect an endangered animal.
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